Run
by lionlambnatz
Summary: Renee dies in a car crash. Charlie is heartbroken and begins to take anger and upset out on Bella. He becomes abusive. She can’t take it anymore and needs to get away landing in Forks, not knowing what will greet her. Rated M to be safe with abuse in Ch 1
1. Chapter 1 Pain

_Welcome to my new story, whether you have read my previous story or you are new to my work, I appreciate your time you are spending in reading Run. I'm having a go at writing with the Cullen's as vampires this time, so this is like new territory to me so it will be fun for me to see how this goes. I really appreciate reviews and am always grateful to everyone who reviews so I can't wait to hear what you think! Enjoy!_

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**Bella POV**

Life could be hell. I watched as Charlie walked away from me, both our bodies shaking. His through anger, mine through fear. He had finished beating me now, but this wouldn't be the end, he would come back again. Whether tonight when he returned home from Billy's or tomorrow or even in a weeks time. Charlie was never going to forgive me for Mom's death. I listened out for the front door to close behind Charlie before I unfolded myself from my position on my bedroom floor. My muscles were sore and new purple bruises were beginning to form along side the bruises from previous days, which were now yellowing. My face was fine but Dad always knew never to hit me on my face. Bruises on the face couldn't be hidden whereas bruises on the body can be covered with clothing. This was part of Dad's plan, he would beat and abuse me almost every night but he would never want anybody to know what he was doing. Instead I had to keep quiet and hide away the evidence everyday while everyone else believed I was living my life happily.

My Mom Renee had died six months ago in a car crash. It had always been my fault in Charlie's eyes and I had soon believed him too. Charlie had taken the death very hard and would very often be heavily drinking or be shutting himself away from the world. His drinking really didn't help matters, he had already lost his job as Chief of Police here in Phoenix and as a family we were really struggling to live off just my wage from a couple of nights work at the local diner. I was trying to keep a regular amount of food in the house but Charlie would take much of it towards his drinking fund.

I made my way down to the kitchen slowly, allowing my muscles to adjust to the pain. My body was used to the beatings now, but it still needed a couple of hours to recover after each of Charlie's sessions. I pulled the ice tray out of the freezer and made myself an ice pack, which I put onto my arm. My whole body was throbbing as I slumped down into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. I really didn't know how much longer I was going to be able to take this. Dad was hurt just as much as I was. We had both lost somebody close to us. His wife, my mother but we both had to go on with life. I just didn't know how much more of my life I would be able to take.

I was asleep in my room when Charlie returned home from Billy's. The front door slammed behind me waking me from my dreams instantly. I stared out into the darkness as I listened for Charlie's footsteps moving around downstairs. He went into the kitchen directly below my room slamming cupboard doors as he went before I heard him begin to climb the stairs. My mind was pleading with whoever would listen not to make Charlie to come in my room. To make him decide to go straight to bed but there was nobody there to hear my pleas. The handle of my door began to turn and I pulled my body into a tight ball underneath the covers on the bed hoping these would help to save me. As the light from the landing crept through the door and steadily got brighter, I screwed my eyes shut and waited for what was to come.

I heard Charlie's heavy footsteps make their way across my room. I kept my eyes screwed shut but listened out for what Charlie was doing. I heard a drawer in my chest being pulled over. I didn't have a clue what Charlie was looking for but it couldn't be good. Before I could think anymore about it, I felt the quilt covering me being pulled back and I had no choice but to stare up into the eyes of my Father. His breath as he leaned over me was thick with the smell of alcohol and it made me want to vomit, but I swallowed it all back and tried to remain looking confident as I continued my stare. Charlie moved his gaze from my face and moved to my arms, sitting me upright before pulling my arms behind me and tying them behind me. It was then when I realised what he had been in my drawers for. It was my favourite scarf, now being used as restraints. He pushed my body back down onto my bed and that was when the pain started. Charlie brought his hand down hard across my face, leaving my cheeks to sting. I held back my yell of pain as Charlie then brought his other hand down on my other cheek.

This attack continued, becoming the worst beating Charlie had ever given me. Not holding back on any part of my body. He punched my breasts and stomach repeatedly before moving up to my face. I heard my nose crack as it broke, the pain excruciating. I kept my screams quiet, letting them just deafen my mind but I couldn't hold the tears back, which were now streaming down my stinging face. Finally when I was wishing for death to come and take me away, the beating stopped. I kept my eyes tightly closed as I heard Charlie stomp back across my room and down the landing to his own room. I waited till I could hear his drunken snores before taking action. I jumped out of bed. There was only one choice left for me now. I had to leave now if I didn't want to die. I reached for my secret place under my bed pulling out my college fund I had stashed inside an old sock. I had continued to save as much money as I could from time to time in hopes of one day going to college once I finished school, but now it was needed for something much more urgent. I packed a few clothes quickly into a rucksack along with my treasured possession, a photo of Mom and me. I walked over to the map of America I had pinned on my wall, which used to help me with my geography homework. I couldn't go somewhere obvious. They would be the first places Dad would try to come and find me. I had to go somewhere new, a place I would never have dreamed to visit before.

I closed my eyes, ignoring the stinging coming from my objecting face and moved my finger around at random before placing my finger down on the map. I opened my eyes and stared at where my finger had landed. Forks would be where I was to run.


	2. Chapter 2 Chasing Cars

_Thanks to Victoria VV, titanterror12, Delanie and TeamSwitzerland678 for the reviews. I always love to know what you guys think. I know a few were confussed about the car crash and why Charlie hates Bella so much but that should become clear over the story. I really hope you can stick with it :) Well here is the next chapter, enjoy!_

**Bella POV**

I had managed to catch an overnight flight from Phoenix to Seattle. The plane was fairly quiet, which was just how I liked it. I had had to face many stares from within Phoenix airport, from the state of my face and I had noticed the reluctance in the girl at the desk when I had asked to buy a plane ticket. They could have been thinking anything though, including could I be trusted on a plane or would I just cause trouble. I'm surprised they hadn't called security but luckily they hadn't and now I was sat in a seat by a window alone. I turned the reading light off above me and settled down trying to cover as much of myself as possible with my jacket. I didn't want people to remember me if Charlie went to the police and they started a search. I knew one day Charlie probably would find me again, but I wanted to make that as hard as possible for him. I didn't know how much he still loved me, if he still loved me at all but I wanted to hurt him with his pining the loss of a daughter as much as he had hurt me over the past months. Even if he was just pining the loss of his punch bag.

The plane landed in Seattle at three in the morning and once I had found my way out the airport, I was relieved to find the hire car company was still open. The night was very dark, with all the stars and the moon hidden by clouds and I pulled my coat around me tighter as I made the short work across to the office. I had known that the Pacific North West would never be as warm as Phoenix, but it didn't help when you only had a summer wardrobe to wear!

A man was sat behind the desk in the hire car office. The room smelt musty as I entered. All the walls were browning, a sign the place needed decorating and an old radio was buzzing in the corner with bad reception. A song could just about be heard through the crackling noise, but it was not a song I recognised.

Apart from the man at the desk there was also a blonde boy in the office, he looked around similar age to me and was filling forms out at another table. As the man looked up from the doodle he was drawing on a scrap of paper, his eyes nearly shot out of his head when he took in my appearance. I must have looked bad.

"I would like to hire a car please." I asked as I approached the desk. My voice cracking from lack of use.

"Um, I'm sorry but we've got no cars available at this time." The man replied abruptly.

"Are you sure you haven't got one car available? I will take anything." I asked again.

"No all our cars have now been hired out." The man said again obviously trying to get me to leave the office.

"Excuse me." Came another voice. We both looked away from each other in the direction of this new voice. It was the blonde boy who had been filling in forms when I had entered. "You told me that you had plenty of cars to chose from when I entered, so don't lie."

I was flattered that this stranger was sticking up for me when he didn't know me and I could have been any mad person from my appearance. It was then when it hit me why I wasn't allowed a car. It was from my appearance. I smiled gratefully to the blonde boy before turning back to the man behind the desk.

"Thanks for nothing." I muttered before turning to leave.

I had just left the office when I heard a shout come from behind me. I turned to see the blonde boy had run out after me.

"I'm really sorry about that can I offer you a lift anywhere?" he asked.

"That's really thoughtful but I'm probably going nowhere near where you are." I replied.

"Try me, where is it you want to be?" the boy asked.

"A place called Forks." I replied.

"Well isn't this your lucky day, that is exactly where I am heading." He replied enthusiastically. "Just let me finish signing for my car then I'll be right back out and we will get on the road."

I stood there stunned as I watched this stranger head back into the office. I don't know about this being my lucky day, what with everything that already happened but at least I knew there could be people around this world who could be nice no matter what your appearance was like. The more I thought about it though I knew that if I was thinking properly I wouldn't dare get in a car with a strange guy I didn't know. Anything could happen, but after what I had left home for, I didn't really care. If there was a chance of me getting to my final destination with this blonde guy I wasn't going to refuse it.

The blonde boy emerged from the office five minutes later smiling and shaking a set of keys at me.

"I'm Mike by the way, Mike Newton" he said taking my hand and shaking it.

"I'm Bella." I replied. I didn't want to give too much away. I didn't want to make it too easy to be tracked. Mike didn't notice my lack or surname, or didn't comment on it but lead me over to a black Ford, which was parked in the parking lot. We put our bags in the back and got into our seats.

"I'm so grateful to you Mike." I said as he started the engine.

"Don't worry about it." He replied. "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to take you to Seattle Hospital though instead. That face of yours really does look like it needs looking at."

"I'll be alright, I just want to get to Forks." I replied.

"Bella you really are in a bad way. Those wounds will get infected if they aren't looked at properly." Mike said.

"Mike I just really want to get to Forks. Will you please just drive?" I asked. I hated being rude, when Mike had been so nice to me so far but I really didn't want him to start asking too many questions and the sooner we left Seattle the better.

"Fine, but I'm taking you to Forks hospital as soon as we get there." Mike replied sulkily.

"That will be very kind of you Mike." I replied, offering him a thankful smile. This seemed to cheer Mike up and he soon began our journey.

I pulled the visor down above my head and looked at my reflection for the first time in the compact mirror. I swallowed my gasp as I took in the extent of my injuries. Both eyes were black and puffy, with cuts that were weeping on my forehead and cheeks. My lips had been busted and there was still dried blood around my nose from when it had been broken. I looked a mess, like something from a horror film. No wonder everybody had shown reluctance. They probably thought I was some zombie, that was savagely going to murder anyone who came close enough. I quickly shut the visor closed again and stared out the window at the black scenery in the dark. I didn't want to look at my reflection again. It wasn't good.


	3. Chapter 3 No Air

_Thanks to titanterror12, Delanie, Victoria VV and Team Switzerland678 for the reviews. I appreciate all of your comments either good or bad so don't forget to press the review button at the end. I am pleased that you all seem to be enjoying this story so far and hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions you have been asking so far. Enjoy!_

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**Bella POV**

The journey had been long but pleasant. Mike was a good distraction to keep me from thinking about what I had left behind but now as we were arriving within the boundaries of Forks, all I wanted was some alone time. Mike was a great guy and I hoped that if I was going to be staying in Forks for some length of time I could get to know him some more. It had turned out he was the same age as me and was in his senior year of high school, just like what I had left behind. He had been telling me about some of his friends, Jessica, Angela, Eric and Ben if I have remembered their names correctly and they sounded good people too.

Mike took me straight over to the hospital and I thanked him immensely for everything he had done for me so far. He offered to come into the hospital with me as support, but I really didn't want him around if the doctors asked too many questions. This was going to be bad enough for me without unnecessary witnesses. As I approached the front desk within the hospital the receptionist was busying herself shuffling papers but as she looked up to face me first time an audio able gasp could be heard leaving her lips.

"Oh my dear, I will get you a nurse straight away." She said before pressing a buzzer calling a nurse through.

Five minutes later a nurse had taken me through to a ward where they had sat me down on a bed. A nurse had disappeared and later appeared with various solutions to clean my face up.

"So what's your name?" the nurse asked as she poured some liquid onto a cotton pad.

"Bella" I replied.

"Right then Bella, I have called through for a doctor so they can have a look as that nose of yours will need some attention and you will probably need a few stitches looking at those cuts."

I remained silent while the nurse set to work. The solution stung my skin but I held back my gasps.

"So how did you get these injuries?" the nurse asked concern showing in her eyes.

"I fell over" I lied. I knew it wasn't the best lie. I just hoped that the nurse wouldn't try for any more answers.

Five minutes later a doctor entered the ward. I couldn't hold back the gasp this time as I took in his appearance. He was stunningly beautiful, being early thirties with pale skin, blonde hair and golden coloured eyes.

"Ah Doctor Cullen, this is Bella" the nurse said as the Doctor arrived beside my bed.

"Nice to meet you Bella now lets take a look at you."

The nurse left us as Doctor Cullen set to work. He initially stayed silent as he set to work with my nose first. As he began work on my cuts he paused for a moment, stepping back and looking right into my eyes.

"How did you get these injuries Bella?" I gulped trying to find my words I had said confidently to the nurse earlier.

"I fell over."

Doctor Cullen definitely wasn't like the nurse. He wasn't going to let this rest. He put the cotton pad he had held within his fingers down on the tray before speaking again.

"Bella, I treat hundreds of injuries a week, I know that this injury isn't from a fall. Somebody has hit you. I want to be able to help you but I can't if you don't let me."

His golden eyes seemed soothing as he looked deep into my own. I blinked a couple of times trying to hold back the tears but the began to creep over my eye lids before I could stop them.

"I was attacked." I sobbed. "I have been abused for a while, but last night I was attacked." I had finally said it. I knew it had been happening and had been saying it again and again in my mind but for the first time since it had all began I had said it out loud. The shock was obvious in Dr Cullen's eyes and I knew more questions would be to come. As my body went into panic mode as I really didn't know how much more I would be able to keep from this man. My breathing increased as I tried to gasp for air. Everything seemed to be getting so much hotter and the room began to spin it. Then everything went black.

My eyes fluttered open to the bright lights of the hospital room. I had been moved to a private room while I had been unconscious and a cold compress had been added to my forehead to bring my temperature down. As I turned my head around to take in my surrounding I noticed Dr Cullen was still with me, but now a women had joined him. I gasped out as she turned around to look at me. She had the same pale skin complexion as Dr Cullen and the same colour of golden eyes. She was also just as stunningly beautiful with shoulder length brown hair.

"Ah Bella, glad you can join us." Dr Cullen said as he noticed I had awoken. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit groggy" I confessed. "Could I please have some water Dr Cullen?"

"Call me Carlisle." The Doctor said bringing a glass he filled from the jug on the table over to me. I took the first sip of the water and it felt like heaven. My throat was so dry and I had soon downed the glass. Carlisle took it from my hands before returning it to me refilled.

"Bella, I would like to introduce you to my wife Esme." Carlisle said indicating to the women who had joined us in the room.

"Is she another doctor, or a nurse?" I asked sitting myself up properly in bed.

"No Bella, but we really need to talk and I thought it would be better if Esme joined us." Carlisle continued. My heart sank, I had completely forgotten about confessing to Carlisle before I fainted that I had been attacked so of course they would want to continue the conversation.

"We will need you to talk to the police though at some point" Esme said speaking for the first time.

My eyes shot open wide in shock. The police could not be informed about this. Although Charlie had left the police due to his drinking problem, he still had many connections within the force who he would no doubt use in the search for me.

"No.. no.. no police" I stuttered out.

"But Bella the police could help bring whoever did this to you to justice." Carlisle said.

"No police" I repeated finding my voice more this time.

"Okay, no police." Esme said taking a seat beside me on the edge of my bed, "but could you please tell us what happened?"

I knew there was no putting it off any longer. Carlisle and Esme would continue to question me until I answered and I would have to tell someone soon anyway. I looked from Carlisle's to Esme's golden eyes, both reflecting worry and concern back at me. I swallowed back the vomit that was threatening to make an appearance and began to talk.

"My Mom died in a car crash six months ago. I was with her but somehow I survived while she had to die. It was all my fault anyway. If only I hadn't wanted to go for those stupid jeans." I paused for a moment to get a grip of myself. I didn't want any tears to be spilt, I had cried enough already. I felt Esme but her arm around me in comfort as I found my voice again.

"Dad was distraught by he death. He still is now. Of course he saw that the accident was my fault and is never going to forgive me for that. He would mistake his despair for anger and would abuse me most nights. He would very often beat me. Last night I ran away from home and was the night he did this to me. This is the worst it has ever been."

I looked up from my hands into the eyes of Carlisle and Esme to see them both shocked. Esme was holding my body close to hers in comfort while Carlisle began to pace the room.

"Your Father can't be let to get away with this Bella. He needs to be brought to justice, so the police need to be informed." Carlisle said.

"The police can't know." I said trying to make it clear to Esme and Carlisle.

"Bella you need to think sensibly here. The police need to know about this." Esme said in a soothing motherly tone I recognised from when my Mom would try to advice me what to do when she had been alive.

"The police can't know," I repeated again this time in next to a whisper. "My Dad is the police."

A gasp was heard coming from Esme while Carlisle stopped his pacing.

"Well what do you plan on doing now?" Carlisle asked.

"I am on the run, that's why I have come to Forks where I plan to begin my new life." I replied.

"How do you plan to live?" Esme asked.

I explained about my small college fund I had been saving over the past years and how I would use that to find somewhere to rent and buy food with until I managed to find myself a job. Esme showed her concern when I told them that I had not yet graduated from high school but a job had to come first now.

Esme and Carlisle excused themselves from the room for a few minutes and when they returned Esme smiled brightly at us.

"Bella, what would you say if we asked you to come and stay with us. You would be very welcome and all our children are around your age and we will make sure you finish your senior year of school."

I was shocked as I took in all this information. These people who I had known for such a short time were offering me a home. A roof over my head when I had nowhere else to go.

"Will your children not mind?" I asked.

"Bella I think there is something you should know." Carlisle said. "Esme is unable to have children so all our family you could say are fostered. They should understand but you need to stay in hospital tonight for observations anyway, so we will use that time to talk to them."

"We will keep your attack to ourselves, just telling them what we need to know. They just need to understand that you deserve a place within our home just as much as them." Esme said.

I thanked the Doctor and his wife enormously, grateful to them for welcoming me so warmly into this new unknown place. Some of my worry leaving me knowing I would now have somewhere to stay, but I promised that I would pay Esme and Carlisle back for there kindness in anyway I could. I just had the worry of what was going to happen with Charlie left within my mind for now.


	4. Chapter 4 Electricity

_Thanks to bloftus, Team Switzerland678, Victoria VV, titanterror12 and Roosvh for the reviews. I love reading them all so why not let me know what you think of my story? A few of you liked that Carlisle and Esme were there to save the day and in this chapter we meet a few more characters. Some you may have been waiting for - I know I have!! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the characters.... Stephenie Meyer does!_

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**Bella POV**

The next morning I had been told that I could leave the hospital. My injuries would be very obvious for the next week or so, but they weren't injuries that would need bed rest. As I changed out of the hospital gown I had been wearing, back into my own clothing, Esme was waiting for me outside. Carlisle and Esme had both returned to the hospital this morning and once Carlisle had given me the all clear he had then headed back home to get the house ready. I hadn't really understood what he meant by that but Esme had stayed and she would be who would be driving me to the Cullen's house.

"Are you ready?" Esme asked as I opened the door to the room once I had changed. I nodded my head and Esme took my bag from me as we began to walk through the corridors towards the exit. Outside in the parking lot Esme led me over to a beautiful black Mercedes, where she proceeded to put my bag in the back before getting in the drivers seat. Before Esme could notice my hesitation, I quickly pulled myself out of my shock and climbed into the passenger seat. It was clear that the Cullen family definitely weren't short of money.

Esme was good company during our journey, asking me questions about my past. She would ask about my old friends, what subjects I studied at school and what I used to do in my spare time. I noticed that she managed to keep the subject of my parents clear of all topics.

As we pulled up outside the Cullen house, again I was left in shock. The house was beautiful. It was a three-story mansion set within trees and as I climbed out of the car, the sound of running water filled my ears. There must be a river close by.

As Esme opened the door of the house for me, I couldn't help but gasp at the beauty of the interior too. Each room I could see from where I was stood was beautifully decorated and furnished.

"Esme, your house is beautiful" I said.

"Thank you Bella" Esme said as she dropped my bag down at the bottom of the stairs. "Interior design is a hobby of mine."

Esme helped me take my jacket off, avoiding any of my bruises, before she led me through the house. As we moved through the house shouting from one of the rooms could be heard. As I heard some of the comments I realised it wasn't hard to figure out whom they were talking about.

"She could ruin everything if she were to find out" shouted a female voice.

"What if I can't find the control you all believe I have?" a male voice asked.

"Jazz, I can see that everything is going to be completely fine" a different female voice answered.

"But the future can always change, this isn't safe!" another male voice pointed out. "But I think we had best save this conversation for another time, we have company."

The room went silent and I looked at Esme would was looking at me apologetically.

"I'm so sorry about them Bella, they really aren't usually this rude. I thought I had brought my children up to be better than this."

Esme led me through to the room where we had just heard the arguing coming from. I was apprehensive as I followed Esme through the door. It was perfectly clear from what I had just heard that these people weren't happy with Carlisle and Esme's decision. They defiantly didn't want me here to stay.

This room was obviously the main family room of the house. There were various white sofas located around the room and a stunning black grand piano located in the corner. On the sofas six of the most beautiful people sat watching me intently.

"Ah Bella, it's so nice to see you here." Carlisle said making his way over to me and giving me a hug. "Let me introduce you to my family."

"Hi Bella, I'm Alice" said a short pixie like girl with short dark hair. I noticed as Alice pulled me into a hug she held her breath and didn't breathe again until she had stepped away. "I can see we are going to be the best of friends!"

Next up stepped a guy who was huge. He was over six foot tall and he could nearly be just as wide. He was pure muscle and if you were to meet him in the dark you would be very scared. As he shook my hand he introduce himself as Emmett and an audio able snap could be heard coming from the other female in the room.

"Hi, I'm Jasper" said a tall blonde male who had taken position next to Alice. He didn't approach me and kept his distance and from his voice I recognised him to be the one talking about not having the control from the argument.

Everyone then turned to the blonde female who had snapped her teeth together earlier, everyone expecting her introduction. Instead she just continued to scowl at me. She was obviously the one who thought I could ruin everything.

"This is Rosalie," Carlisle said breaking the silence. I smiled at her but she didn't return one. So that just left the last male in the room. I turned my attention to him and was stunned by his appearance. He was beautiful, they all were but this man with bronze hair and the same pale skin and golden eyes they all seemed to have in common was definitely the most beautiful, well maybe him and Rosalie.

"I'm Edward" he said as he stood from his seat on the sofa. He had a look of frustration on his face as he stared deeply at me. He seemed to be trying to read something from my face, but I didn't have a clue what. I shuffled nervously beginning to feel paranoid as he continued his curios look as he stepped forward to shake my hand. As he touched we immediately jumped away from each other. A huge surge of electricity had shot around my body at his touch and I am pretty sure Edward had felt it too.

"Well it's very nice to meet you all." I said as I looked around them all again. I wasn't quite sure if I was including Rosalie in that statement or not and I tried to avoid making eye contact with Edward after what had just happened. I really didn't know how awkward things are going to become there.

"Well I'm sure you want to see your room now." Carlisle pointed out. I nodded my head in appreciation and Alice rushed forward to stand by my side. She had the most welcoming smile across her face and I'm pretty sure she shot a sideways glance at Edward before she spoke.

"I'll show you" she said nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

"I'll join you" Esme said taking her place on the other side of me. The other Cullen's slowly filtered from the room leaving the three of us alone. Edward was last to leave and as he reached the door he paused and stared at me curiously once more before following the rest of his family.

"Come on then Bella, let's get you settled in." Esme said.

I followed Alice and Esme around the house as they showed me various rooms. First the ground floor, then we went up a staircase to where Esme and Carlisle's room, Jasper and Alice's room and Emmett and Rosalie's room. We then went up another staircase where Alice pointed out the door to Edward's room followed by the room that would now become mine.


	5. Chapter 5 Undisclosed Desires

_Wow I am stunned at the response to the last chapter. Thanks to titanterror12, TeamSwitzerland678, Delanie, bloftus, Lecia, Roosvh, twilightluvr001 and phantomessangel for the reviews. So many reviews and I really appreciate each and everyone so hopefully they will keep on coming! :)_

_This chapter is the first chapter in a different person's POV and is none other than Edward! Let me know what you think and I hope you like it!_

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**Edward POV**

Bella had arrived exactly a week ago. Alice had been overjoyed at Carlisle and Esme's decision to invite Bella to stay with us, whereas my other brothers and sister hadn't been so sure. Bella had seen to settle immediately and tried to keep herself to herself, even though Alice tried to throw her deep into the centre of our family life. I could understand completely where Rose and Jasper were coming from. Emmett seemed to not want Bella there, but from his thoughts I knew it was all an act to keep Rose happy. We were all vampires and Bella was human. We were all what we like to call "vegetarian" vampires, whereby we didn't drink the blood of humans, instead finding our food from animals, so none of us would kill Bella, but to put the temptation right in front of our noses? I would constantly hear Rosalie asking the same question in her thoughts but nobody seemed to know why Carlisle and Esme had taken pity on this girl, they must have known the huge risks they were taking inviting her into our home. Of course I was the mind reader of the family and I knew exactly why Bella was here. She had run away from home after her mother had died and her father had begun to abuse her, but Carlisle has contacts within the hospital, why choose to invite her to a houseful of vampires?

As soon as Bella had walked through the door into our home a week ago, her mouth watering smell hitting my senses straight away. Hearing Jasper's thoughts on what he would love to do to her really didn't help and since that moment my resistance has really been put to the test. Her scent lingers. Even if she isn't in the same room or even not inside the house you can still smell it. I can only ever seem to get a clear head now outside in the clean fresh air. For years now, so our family fit in within the local communities we would establish a life within, Carlisle would get a job at the local hospital and along with my brothers and sisters, we would go to school. I had never struggled around these humans day in day out, Jasper did but no human's scent had ever effected me as much as Bella's did. When her scent would enter my nose I would begin to feel the venom forming in my mouth. So hard to swallow back until I had moved myself as far away from Bella as possible. It intrigued me everyday as to why this one girls scent got to me so much. It was as though she had been sent from hell as my personal punishment, seeing as being immortal I would never make it there myself. Apart from the scent, there was one other issue about Bella that troubled me much more. I couldn't read her mind.

Ever since Carlisle had turned me into a vampire about one hundred years ago, I had been gifted with the ability to hear people's thoughts. To know exactly what they were thinking as they were thinking it. Very often it just annoyed me and I tried to tune out of it, but for the family it proved very useful. Between Alice and I we could use our abilities to see when people were being to become suspicious about what we were, they we could pack up and leave before we were uncovered. But with Bella it was annoying me that I couldn't hear her thoughts. I couldn't hear what she thought of the family. I couldn't hear the pain and torment she must have been going through at the moment. I couldn't hear what she thought of that electrical sensation she must have felt like me when we touched last week. The whole thing was driving me slowly insane.

It was a Friday morning as we all went through the facade of breakfast, so not to raise suspicion with Bella. I say all; it was always just Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Bella and I. Rosalie always insisted on leaving for school early to avoid the event, always taking Emmett with her.

I busied myself making some pancakes for my breakfast that would eventually end up in the bin, while Jasper was pouring some cereal into a bowl. I hadn't yet spoken about my concerns about not being able to hear Bella's thoughts yet to any of my family except for Carlisle, who hadn't been able to come up with an explanation.

"Jasper can I ask you something?" I asked in a whisper taking my concentration away from the pancakes in front of me.

"Of course you can brother." Jasper replied.

"Are you having any problems with your talent with Bella?" I asked again in a whisper, even though I knew all my family would have heard every single word.

Jasper shook his head and turned his attention around to Bella to prove his point. Bella was sat at the other end of the table beside Alice eating her bowl of cereal. Alice was chattering away, while Bella just nodded at the right places not allowed to get a word into the conversation. I watched as Bella's head slowly started to drop as Jasper used his calming technique on her emotions. Slowly her head dropped more and more until she was nearly asleep, her face falling slowly into the bowl in front of her. Alice noticed what was going to happen suddenly and shouted her name to quickly wake her up again. Bella blushed with embarrassment, the colour of her skin mesmerizing me. Jasper and I quickly turned our attentions back to our breakfasts to not raise and suspicion. It was clear that Jasper was having no trouble then and from the visions of Bella, Alice would keep thinking about, it would appear that there must be something wrong with me.

"Bella how would you feel about joining Forks High School from Monday?" Carlisle asked breaking from my thoughts.

Bella looked shocked to begin with but then began to speak.

"I really couldn't invade on your hospitality too much. I was hoping to get a full time job as soon as possible so I could afford to look after myself." Bella said her face flushing red again.

"Nonsense Bella, we want you to stay here as long as you like and we wouldn't want you to miss out on your education." Esme said.

"But I really wouldn't expect you to keep me. You have only known me a week." Bella argued.

"Bella we see you as family already, you really aren't unwelcome here and we would really like it if you could go to school. If it would make you feel better you could always get yourself a part time job out of school hours." Carlisle suggested.

I didn't need to be able to read minds to know that Bella had lost this argument. Her face said it all. Bella thanked Carlisle and Esme immensely before Carlisle suggested that he had best get on to the phone to the school to pull a few strings to get her signed up so soon, while Bella offered to help Esme around the house. Alice, Jasper and I got our bags together and went out to the garage and climbed into my Volvo.

xxx

It was now 2am. I flicked lazily through the textbook open in front of me as I finished my Biology homework for tomorrow. I had done this work hundreds of times before in all the many times I had been through high school, but I took my time so it would waste time. The nights were always the best time to hunt, but seeing as I only hunted last night I didn't need to go for another couple of days. The nights were always the hardest. You would see the darkness pass through into the breaking dawn, another day of this never-ending existence. I could hear my family carrying out their usual pursuits in the floors below. Carlisle in his study reading, Esme with Alice and Jasper watching TV. Rose and Emmett were out in the garage, Rose working on Emmett's jeep. I could hear Bella's soft breathing as she slept in the room opposite.

I continued working at human pace for some length of time, never really taking note of what was happening in my surrounding. Shutting the sounds of my family out around me with my own thoughts. I had things to think about over the past week and each and everyone was about Bella. Everything about her fascinated me, from her scent and her blocked mind right through to why she always blushed at anything. Whatever I did, I could never get her out of my mind. It was like her imaged had been scratched deep into my eyes and it was never going to go. I was just finishing the last question of my homework when I heard it. A scream, the sound of terror coming from across the landing in Bella's room.


	6. Chapter 6 Dance In The Dark

_Thanks to bloftus, phantomessangel, Team Switzerland678, IGOTEAMEDWARD, titanterror12, Lecia, Delanie and Roosvh for the reviews. They all make my day and I love reading them all! After that last chapter seeing this story from Edward's point of view we are back to Bella again. We will proberbly see this from Edward's point of view again if you enjoyed that. A few seemed shocked that the Cullen's were vampires after reading the last chapter and I agree with you it is certainly going to be an interesting story. I just hope you can stick with my ideas and continue reading :) Let me know what you think bu pressing that review button at the end. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Bella POV**

The alley was cold and dark. The sun had long since set and I should have been home hours ago. Esme and Carlisle would begin to worry. I really didn't know where this alley would lead. It seemed to continue on forever and I still wasn't great with the geography of Forks. Although I could only either continue forwards or return the way I had come, returning back down the alley it was then when it hit me. I was lost.

The cool breeze whipped around me causing me to shiver, making me wish I had decided to come out in more than a plaid shirt this evening. The only light was coming from the full moon above, which cast long shadows down the alley. A figure approached ahead and as she stepped out into the moonlight, I discovered it was Alice.

"Bella, we need to move. We can't stay here, it's not safe." She spoke.

I tried to move after her but my legs wouldn't move. They were stuck fast to the ground below my feet. I tried to call after her but she was long gone and my voice just echoed around the walls surrounding me.

"Bella there you are." Spoke a familiar voice from behind me. I span around to become face to face with my father Charlie. Here was the man I had run away from all the way to Forks and here he was stood right in front of me. I stayed silent, my voice lost somewhere within my body.

"I have been looking for you everywhere. Why would you run away from me?" Charlie continued. "Why would you just abandon your Father like that?"

I suddenly found my voice from within the depths of my throat. I tried to remain confident as I spoke.

"You know full well why I left. I am no longer going to be your punch bag."

"Now, now Bella there is no need to be like that." Charlie said, taking a step closer to me.

I swallowed back the bile in my throat, trying hard not to show my fear to my father.

"You can't touch me, people will know I'm missing and will know straight away you have hurt me." I stuttered.

Charlie's laugh was chilling.

"Oh please don't tell me somebody has taken pity on you and believed you sob story?" By now Charlie was so close his alcohol scented breath was filling my nose. I considered holding my breath, but then realised I would probably only faint. His eyes looked into mine with pure evil. His hand lifted from besides his body and he raised it ready to strike me. I wanted to scream out even though I knew there would be nobody there to hear my cry except for Charlie. Alice was long gone now. That was when something unexpected happened. A pair of recognisable golden eyes appeared from nowhere. A weird sensation seemed to fill my body, as though I was no longer alone. I was probably going insane, but I found my voice and screamed as loud as I could.

"Bella, Bella wake up, you're dreaming" came a soothing voice. I was safe, it had all been a nightmare.

I opened my tear filled eyes and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I made out the pale figure knelt beside my bed. The soothing voice, which had brought me away from the nightmare. My saviour Edward.

Edward seemed concerned as I sat myself up in bed. We were silent for a moment as Edward continued to stare at me and I rubbed away my tears.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked.

"I am now that I know it was all a nightmare" I replied. It seemed strange to have Edward staring at me with so much concern when we had barely said a word to each other since my arrival. Edward always keeping himself to himself or spending time with his brothers and sisters, but here he was now trying to comfort me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"It was just what I have run away from. I am better now knowing that I wasn't back there."

I expected Edward to ask more questions, to try and find out more information about why I was now here. If I was in his shoes I would be, but instead he nodded as though understanding but I trusted Esme and Carlisle. They had promised that they would not tell their children why I was here and I believed that they hadn't. Edward must have just had that understanding within him to know not to ask further questions.

"Will you be okay now?" Edward asked.

"I think so, I just don't want the nightmare to return." I replied.

Edward reached forward taking my hand within his. I noticed for the first time how cold his skin was. His touch was like ice against me. It was as though he had been stood outside in the cold before he had come into my room. I looked at him with curiosity, Edward's confused expression returning back to me.

"I should leave you now and let you try to get back to sleep." Edward said.

Terror spread through me. I didn't want to be left alone within the darkness after the nightmare I had just had. It would be like being inside a dark house alone after you had just watched a horror movie. I would only be screaming out again in fear again shortly after Edward had left me.

"Will you stay with me please? Just until I have fallen asleep again." I asked.

Edward looked shocked at my request but nodded his head. I lay back down again in my bed while Edward wrapped the covers back around me. He sat down on the edge on my bed and watched me. As my eyes started to close I heard him begin to hum something. It was a beautiful sound I had never heard before. It sounded like a lullaby and it was certainly working and my eyes were growing heavy.

When I was awoken by the sunlight in the morning, I was all alone once more.


	7. Chapter 7 Slow Life

Massive thanks go out to phantomessangel, IGOTEAMEDWARD, Lecia, Roosvh, Twilightfan108, bloftus, Delanie, titanterror12 and puglover770 for the reviews. Each and everyone always makes my day. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight series.

* * *

**Bella POV**

As I changed into my clothes from the day, I couldn't help but hum to myself. It was only when I actually listened to what I was humming, was it that I realised I was humming the same music, which Edward had hummed to me last night after he had soothed me after my nightmare. I couldn't help but be happy at the moment. Ever since I had arrived at the Cullen's house there had always seemed to be an invisible barrier between Edward and I, but last night that barrier seemed to have disappeared. It seemed Edward finally managed to get over what ever his problem was with me.

I left my room and headed down stairs to breakfast. As I past Edward's room, I peered in quickly to see he had already gone downstairs to breakfast. That is good I thought to myself, as I really wanted to thank him for being there for me last night. The house seemed pretty quiet as I made my through the two stories to the ground floor. As I entered the kitchen I was shocked to see that only Alice and Esme sat around the table. When they heard me they both looked up and smiled.

"Good morning Bella" Esme greeted me standing up from the table. "Why don't you take a seat and I will fix you some breakfast."

I smiled at Esme thankfully and took a seat besides Alice. The house was really silent when there didn't seem to be many people in it. Where was everyone?

"Where is everybody else?" I asked as Esme brought me a bowl of cereal over.

"Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper have gone to the library to do some college work and Carlisle is at the hospital" Alice replied.

I couldn't help but be curious about Edward, as especially since last night he seemed to be the only person on my mind.

"Where's Edward?"

Alice didn't reply this time but turned to look at Esme as though she needed some help with that answer. Esme took the seat on the other side of me before answering.

"He left the house really early this morning. He seemed in a bit of a state really, just shouting back to me that he would be back later as he left through the door."

"Is he alright?" I asked, truly concerned for Edward. I would have surely been the last person to see him last night. Had I said something to hurt him?

"I think he just needed sometime to himself. He seems to have had something on his mind for the past few days, so I guess he just wants to be alone to try and clear it" Esme replied. "I'm sure it will be nothing to worry about."

I relaxed my body a little as Esme's words circled my mind. She was right, there probably was nothing to worry about and Edward would come back later and things will be fine. My heart did sink with disappointment. I had a whole day ahead of me now with nothing to do. I had been hoping that once I had started talking to Edward perhaps we could have done something together, but instead I was probably just going to be bored. As I continued to take mouthfuls of my cereal, I began to think of ideas for what to do. The only thing that came to mind was to tidy my room, it wasn't that messy but it would occupy me for an hour or so.

"So Bella, while everyone else is busy today, what do you say to the both of us having a movie day today? You, me, a stack of DVD's and a load of food that's not good for you?" Alice asked.

"Sounds like a plan" I agreed, perking up a lot. It looked like my day wasn't going to be quite as boring as first thought. Alice and I got some drinks and food together and a collection of films and headed into the room where I had first met all the Cullen's, the room with the beautiful black grand piano. I had still yet to find out who played it, but I had briefly heard a few notes filling the house the other morning. By the time I had my way downstairs from my room the room was empty once more.

We settled down on the sofa, me grateful for choosing to just wear a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt this morning when I got changed. The perfect outfit for lazing around the house. We put the first film in the player, 27 dresses and began to watch.

"So are you looking forward to starting school on Monday?" Alice asked during the film.

"I'm a bit nervous" I admitted.

"I'm sure everything will be fine, everyone will love you and you won't be alone. Jasper, Edward, Emmett and I will be there." Alice said cheerfully.

I took note that Alice didn't say Rosalie's name, but seeing as we had barely said a word to each other since we arrived, I doubted she would help me if I needed her at school. Carlisle and Esme had told me last night that they had managed to get me signed up at Forks High School, starting Monday and the nerves had instantly set in. It would be a brand new place with new people. This wasn't my worst fear though. Would Charlie be able to find out I was at Forks High. I'm sure that wouldn't be hard and then he would know instantly where I was.

"Are you alright?" Esme asked as she entered the room.

"Are you sure I can't be tracked to Forks High School when I start there?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that, Carlisle and I have dealt with that problem. We have signed you up as Bella Cullen, you will be a niece of Carlisle's." Esme replied smiling warmly.

"Won't the school want to see official papers to prove who I am?" I asked, now confused.

"Ah Bella, the less you ask there when it comes to that department the better" Alice chipped in. "This family has a fair few contacts who help out there."

I decided to follow Alice's advice and not ask any more about it but it still didn't kill my curiosity. What dealings were the Cullen's associated with and did this mean they were on the wrong side of the law with other aspects of life. I decided to push these thoughts to the back of my mind. The Cullen's had been so caring towards me since my arrival, there couldn't possibly be anything wrong about them, could there?

Esme then joined us watching the remainder of the film. By the end of the day we had watched four movies. When Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie arrived home Esme made the most delicious pasta dish for us all. Rosalie and Emmett did excuse themselves from eating with us, choosing to take theirs to their room, but this didn't bother me. I was completely used to it. What I didn't like was that by the time I said goodnight and made my way back upstairs to my room, Edward still hadn't returned. I had missed him today and I still hadn't been able to thank him for being there after my nightmare. I just couldn't get the idea out of my head that I was the one to scare him away today.


	8. Chapter 8 With You

_Thanks to Roosvh, titanterror12, Delanie, puglover770, Lecia, bloftus, twilightluvr001 and phantomessangel for the reveiws. Reviews really do rock!_

_This chapter is kind of a turning point for our favourite couple and I really enjoyed writing this chapter but I will let you read for yourself. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga, for if I did my name would be Stephenie Meyer, for which is unfortunately not._

* * *

**Bella POV**

I opened my eyes to a usual Forks day. Even though my blinds at my window were closed, the light that crept in and the atmosphere told me it was more than likely raining outside. I had had to get used to that through seeing as I had chosen to run away here, but even so I still missed the sunshine and warmth of Phoenix.

I climbed out of bed, heading to the bathroom for a shower. As the warm water ran down my body an image flashed before my eyes. A memory, or was it a dream? It was the sense of waking during the middle of the night. As my eyes had open, a figure had been standing at the end of the bed. In the darkness the figure was like a shadow but the messed up hair was instantly recognisable – Edward. I had stared at the figure for a second before blinking. As my eyes opened and adjusted to the darkness the figure was gone. By the time I had thought much more about it I had drifted off to sleep again.

The memory had felt so real but surely Edward wouldn't stand at the end of my bed in the middle of the night and then disappear again in less than a second. That kind of speed wasn't humanly possible. After what my mind had gone through over the past months, it would be understandable to be dreaming bizarre things. By the time I had changed, I had convinced myself it had all been a dream.

As I made my way through the house, Carlisle could be heard typing at his computer in his study, Jasper and Emmett were shouting at the television as they played games against each other while Alice was lay out across the floor in front of them reading what looked to be a fashion magazine. She smiled and waved as I walked past on my way to the kitchen.

At first glance I thought the kitchen was empty until I noticed Edward sat at the table. This was the first time I had seen him since he had been my calmer. All my confidence I had had yesterday morning had long since disappeared. What if he thought I was a freak for having nightmares and what if this was the reason to keep away from the house yesterday.

I remained quiet as I fixed myself some pancakes for my breakfast. I kept my thoughts busy about school. Anything as far away as possible from the guy sat behind me, but he couldn't stay quiet for long.

"Good morning Bella" his soft voice said.

I turned my gaze from my cooking for a minute to be polite.

"Good morning Edward."

"Did you have a good sleep?" he asked. I began to get the impression he was just trying to find something to fill the silence.

"Um… yes I guess so." I replied not really knowing what to say.

I finished making my breakfast and joined him at the table. As I took my seat at the table I noticed Edward gazing at my pancakes with great interest.

"Would you like some?" I asked indicating to the pancakes.

"Um… no thanks, I have already eaten." Edward replied. As I ate Edward asked me questions, like what my interests were, what my favourite foods were and what was my favourite film. I answered his questions in between mouthfuls of pancake but as I cleaned my plate it was soon my own turn to make the conversation.

"I would like to thank you for the other night, when you were there for me after the nightmare." I spoke, my voice quiet with embarrassment.

"There's no need to worry about that Bella, anybody else would have done the same." Edward replied with a smile.

"I just really appreciate the thought though. I really don't think I would have been able to drift off again without somebody there." I replied.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Edward asked.

"Not really. Just thought I would read a book or something I guess," I replied.

"Bella have you actually left the house yet since you arrived here?" Edward asked, curiosity in his voice.

"Not really, only on a trip to the store with Esme to get food" I replied.

A smile spread across Edward's face.

"Right then that is decided. I'm going to take you out today. Show you some of the sites of Forks. Maybe we could even call in at a book store, get you some new reading literature" Edward suggested.

That really did sound like a nice idea. Ever since I had arrived in Forks I had really wanted to see the surroundings. On my journey to the Cullen's house from the hospital I had noticed that the place looked beautiful with an awful lot of green. A place completely different to Phoenix and now that Edward had suggested it I really wanted to explore.

After I had cleared away my breakfast things Edward and I pulled on our jackets and shoes while telling Alice, Jasper and Emmett where we were going and headed out into the garage. I hadn't been in the Cullen's garage yet as Esme had just pulled up outside the door in Carlisle's Mercedes when she had first brought me here. In the garage there was a whole array of cars, from elegant to huge! First off there was Carlisle's Mercedes parked nearest the door. Besides that was a silver Volvo, then a red BMW, a yellow Porsche 911 and at the end was a huge jeep. I stared with astonishment at the collection of cars and heard a chuckle besides me. I looked across to see Edward grinning at me.

"There are so many" I said.

"Yes, collecting cars is a bit of a hobby of ours. I guess you already know who the black Mercedes belongs to, but mine is the Volvo, Rosalie has the BMW, Alice the Porsche and Emmett owns the jeep at the end." Edward said.

"That jeep is huge" I commented.

"Yeah, we had to extend the garage just to fit it in but that's Emmett for you." Edward replied.

As we made our way over to Edward's car I stared at the cars in amazement. I had never known a lot about cars, but there was one thing I could tell from these cars. They were all fast.

Edward opened the passenger door for me to climb in, being the perfect gentleman. After living with Charlie for all those years, that kind of behaviour would take some getting used to! As I fastened my seatbelt Edward walked around to the drivers side and climbed in. The engine started at the turn of the key, which also brought the stereo to life. I watched in amazement as Edward instantly turned it off. I looked at his face but he kept staring forward as he began to drive the car out of the garage. Edward didn't need to be ashamed of his taste in music. Nobody should be so I reached across and turned the radio back on.

The classical sounds of the music began running through the speakers again and I instantly recognised it. It was the music I had been brought up on by my Mother when I was younger. Debussy's Claire De Lune. I turned to look back at Edward who was looking at me with complete horror in his eyes.

"Erm… I'm into some of the old music, you can change it to anything you like, there is a whole selection in the glove compartment."

"There is no need Edward" I replied. "I like Claire De Lune."

"You know it?" Edward asked the shock prominent in his voice.

"Yes it was one of my Mother's favourites, she would always be playing it." I replied.

"What was you Mother like?" Edward asked as we made our way down the road from the house.

"I guess she was very much like me apart from I was always the responsible one. It would always seem that I would be the Mom and she would be the daughter." I replied, smiling at the memories that were filling my mind of the happier times.

The talking never stopped as we drove around Forks. Edward would ask me more questions about myself, what my favourite books were, what I would do in Phoenix, my hobbies, even what my favourite colour was all in between pointing out the me the pretty sights of Forks. He showed me the hospital where Carlisle worked, the school where I would be going tomorrow, the local store and finally the bookstore. As Edward parked up in the parking lot outside the bookstore, I took my chance to start asking the questions.

"What were your Mom and Dad like?" I asked.

"I can't really remember. I was young when they died but even now I can still picture my Mother's beautiful face." Edward replied. A smile creeping to the corners of his mouth as he obviously pictured her face in his mind.

"You must have got you looks from your Mother then." I said before I could stop myself. It was one of those moments where you experience verbal diarrhoea and you mouth speaks out what your brain in thinking. I was horrified as I felt my face flush bright red as Edward turned to face me. I wished the ground would swallow me up as Edward opened his mouth to begin to say something to me.

"Do you think I am beautiful?"

I could hardly lie after what I had just said so I decided to speak the truth plainly and clearly.

"Yes."


	9. Chapter 9 I Got You

_Thank you so much to phantomessangel, titanterror12, puglover770, Lecia, Roosvh, bloftus, Delanie, twilightluvr001 and xXFaerieDustXx for the reviews. Reviews rock and I always love your views on my stories._

_This week I have also written a one-shot based 10 years after New Moon about Charlie and Bella so I hope you will all check that out too. It is called "Tears of Diamonds" and the link will be found in the list of stories I have written at the bottom of my profile._

_Until next time! Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Series, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

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**Bella POV**

Esme woke me early on the Monday morning. As my mind registered what was happening today the nerves instantly set in. Today would be my first day as a student at Forks High School as Bella Cullen. It took me three attempts at getting changed before I had finally managed to put my clothes on properly. By the time I had made it downstairs the rest of the Cullen's were already downstairs waiting.

"I don't know why you are looking so worried Bella, if you have any problems today, we will all be there for you" Emmett said.

"You can count me out of that "we"" Rosalie snapped before leaving the room. Emmett smiled at me apologetically before following his girlfriend out of the room.

"Bella don't worry about her" Edward said coming to stand besides me "Emmett was right we will be there besides you today, with or without Rose."

I felt a sense of calm spread through my body and as Esme stepped forwards to direct me over to the table to eat something, I caught Alice grin at Jasper broadly. What was that all about?

Esme had prepared the best breakfast ever of French toast ever which really boosted my mood ready for today. They were all right, what really could go wrong with going to school. Yeah sure it was a new school but by this evening I would be past my first day.

As we all got our bags together Carlisle approached with a card in his hand.

"Here's your new identity card for enrolment." He said handing me the card.

I turned the card over a couple of times within my hand. It was amazing it looked so real and I'm sure nobody would be able to see that it was a fake, and there was a picture of my face besides the name Bella Cullen. It was like I was starting a fresh, I was putting the old Bella Swan behind me, my old life with Charlie was completely at an end and now I had my new life with Carlisle and Esme.

"How did you guys get this?" I asked.

"As I have said before," Alice said stepping forward, "The less you ask about that the better."

I was still so curious but did as she asked as remained quiet.

"You shouldn't have any problems with that during enrolment, but if you do Edward will be besides you all the time, he'll be able to convince them" Carlisle continued.

I looked over at Edward who just smiled back at me. His smile was so beautiful and I'm sure my heart stopped beating for a second. There would be no doubt that somebody would ever not believe him, with that smile you would believe anything that comes from his mouth. He certainly dazzled me.

By the time we were ready we all made our way through to the garage. Rosalie's BMW was already gone so she must have already left for school with Emmett. The lights of Edward's Volvo flashed as he unlocked the doors and Jasper and Alice instantly climbed into the back seats leaving me to take the passenger seat besides Edward.

"Bella do you mind putting your window down please?" Jasper asked.

"Are you serious? It's freezing out there!" I replied.

"Please, I get travel sick and the fresh air helps" Jasper replied.

I pressed the button on the door and the electric window started to lower. By now we had reached the end of the Cullen's drive and we were pulling out onto the road that would take us down into the town. Even though I had only been for one drive with Edward yesterday, I was starting to recognise places and some of the sights of the town.

Soon enough we were pulling up in the parking lot of the school, which I was grateful for. Having to drive with the car window down had turned me into an icicle. I really wished I had put a much thicker jacket on before I had left the house. As I climbed out of the car and got my bearings I realised Edward was already stood beside me taking his own jacket off.

"Here put this on over the top, it will help." Edward said offering me his coat.

"But then you won't have a jacket." I argued.

"Bella please, I don't want you getting sick." Edward replied calmly.

As I took the coat from him, my hand brushed against his. His skin was like a block of ice. He was freezing cold, but yet he was telling me that he didn't need a jacket.

"Edward you are freezing! I think you need this more than me."

"Bella please" Edward replied calmly. We looked deep into my eyes and something within his golden eyes seemed to make me trust him. Before I had even realised what I was doing, the coat was draped around my shoulders. His sweet smell from his jacket flowing around under my nose.

Alice and Jasper waited outside the office while I went in with Edward to enrol myself. Carlisle had been right all along and the lady behind the desk had no doubts about my identity card and she was soon handing over to me a timetable and wishing me well for my first day at Forks High School.

As the four of us scanned over my new timetable once outside again, it appeared that I would be in Alice's Spanish class first, followed by Edward's English class, then I would be in Government with Jasper and Emmett, Biology with Edward again and then thankfully gym on my own. I had always been clumsy and gym had never been my strongest subject so I was pleased I wouldn't have to embarrass myself in front of any of the Cullen's there. Before long though the first bell rang across the school and Edward and Jasper wished me well as they headed towards their History class and Alice led me away to Spanish.

By lunchtime I was finally beginning to believe that I could settle into Forks High School. As I walked down the corridors between lessons, many people would still stop and stare as I walked by but I had to accept that. I was the new girl here, the shiny new toy. I had to let them look and soon enough they would realise there was nothing special about me and I would be completely forgotten about.

In the dining hall, I joined all the Cullen's at their table. I noticed that Rosalie joined us, but she didn't say a word to me, I don't even think she looked at me once. As I enjoyed my salad I had chosen for myself, I glanced around the rest of the room. The whole place was a hive of activity, people talking animatedly with others, moving around tables to talk to different friends. Even shouting across the room to each other. I couldn't help but notice that nobody did this with the Cullen's table. In fact nobody even glanced at the Cullen table, it was as though we didn't exist. I knew I would be an outsider, I was new her but I never expected it of the Cullen's. With Alice's charm, Edward's looks and Rosalie's beauty I would never expect this table to be the quietest of them at all, but it was.

I ate quietly as I listened into the conversation that was going around the table. Alice sounded like she wanted to plan a shopping trip soon, I just hoped I didn't have to go with her, I hated shopping. Emmett and Jasper were planning a rematch with a computer game they had been playing. Jasper believed Emmett had cheated when they had been playing the day before. I looked up from my food to catch Edward watching me.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

I nodded my head back and smiled at Edward. I was just about to ask him about what we would be doing in Biology after lunch when I heard my name being called from behind. Edward looked just as curious as I when he heard this. I didn't know anybody else here apart from the Cullen's, who would know me. I turned around in my seat and a sense of relief spread through my body. There heading across the room waving was a blonde boy I was so thankful to.

Mike.

I heard Edward mutter something under his breath as Mike came ever closer to our table, but it was too low for me to catch the words.

"Hey Bella!" Mike said enthusiastically as he reached the table. "I didn't realise you would be joining us at Fork's High, you should have told me when we first met."

"At the time I didn't realise I would be staying for so long, I came to visit my Uncle and I love this place so much that I have decided to stay for a while, so here I am!" I said speaking the lie that had previously planned out between the Cullen's and I.

"So is your Uncle Doctor Cullen?" Mike asked with curiosity as he warily looked around the rest of the table.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen him in years, so I am staying to get to know him and his family a little better." I answered. I was starting to get annoyed with all the questions Mike was asking that were cutting too far into the lie I was trying to keep, to stay undercover here, but luckily Mike seemed that have all the information he wanted now.

"It's a shame we haven't had any classes together yet, what have you got for the rest of the day?" he asked.

"Biology followed by Gym" I replied.

"You will be in my Gym class then" Mike said enthusiastically. "I guess we can talk more then. See you later Bella."

As Mike walked away, I caught the words kid and annoying leaving Edward's lips.

The first bell rang for the end of lunch shortly after that and we all stood up and left towards our next classes. Alice and Rosalie had English, Emmett and Jasper had gym and Edward and I had our biology class.


	10. Chapter 10 Monster

_Thanks to phantomessangel, Roosvh, Delanie, IGOTEAMEDWARD, bloftus, kissesandcuddles2, puglover770, Lecia and titanterror12 for the reviews. Reviews rock this world!_

_I went to see Lady GaGa in concert this last week. She is amazing and she sure knows how to put a show on so this chapter is named after her song "Monster". There is also less than a month till Eclipse now and after the clip that was released last night at the MTV Movie Awards, I'm now really excited!_

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

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**Bella POV**

My first week at Forks High School was finally over and it really was beginning to feel like I had been there my whole life. The Cullen's had really helped me settle into the new environment and by Friday I really was receiving fewer stares as the novelty of me being new starting to wear off with everybody else. I now walked past most people unnoticed, which was how I preferred it.

My alarm clock's illuminated figures told me it was only six fifteen. How come during the week I find it impossible to wake up when you have to but on a Saturday morning I wake up really early. I tried sending myself back to sleep but fifteen minutes later I gave. It was obvious a lie in today really wasn't going to happen. My mind was alive with many thought and emotions and they all seemed to revolve around the one figure, Edward. Since Edward had finally seemed to unlock the invisible barrier he had put between us last weekend, our relationship with each other had really evolved between the two of us. I had been so scared after my nightmare that I had scared Edward away and now that really didn't appear true. Edward had been the Cullen I had spent the most time with over the last week and he truly was a great friend. If I was honest with myself I liked him much more than a friend. I had never been in love before, but from the feeling my heart gave me whenever I would see Edward, I was pretty sure I was falling for Edward fast.

I take my time having a shower and getting changed and as I make my way down the stairs to find some breakfast, the rest of the house is quiet. Everybody else must be in bed but who could blame them? It was very early on a Saturday morning, the perfect chance to sleep in. Soon enough I had eaten breakfast and cleaned up after myself and there was still no other noise coming from within the house. I was soon bored, even though I knew I had a lot of homework waiting for me in my room, which I could be doing but I just wasn't in the mood. After my taster last weekend with Edward, all I wanted to do was explore. Forks was beautiful and I just wanted to see even more!

I didn't have any transport, having to always depend on one of the Cullen's if I needed to travel anywhere and they were all asleep upstairs. I would go on foot. Some beautiful forest surrounded the Cullen's house. I would stick to any tracks to avoid getting lost but it would be me exploring.

I hurried upstairs and grabbed my jacket and found a pair of walking boots, which looked like they belonged to Esme downstairs near the door. They would be perfect and I was sure Esme wouldn't mind me borrowing them. Before I left, I pinned a note the fridge telling the Cullen's where I was if they did wake up before I returned. I didn't know how long I would be but I wouldn't want them to worry about me when they had been so good to me.

As I stepped into the first of the trees, it felt like I had entered a completely different world. The place was so quite apart from the occasional bird call from above in the canopy. Everywhere was damp from the rainfall from last night, which left a damp earth smell which filled my nose. It wasn't repulsive the smell, but it was certainly nothing I was used to after living in the hot baking atmosphere of Phoenix all my life. The mugginess in the atmosphere kept my skin cool, but it wasn't unpleasant. Up ahead a tree had fallen leaving behind a natural bench from it's trunk. The sun was beginning to creep in through the canopy above warming up the air. I pulled my jacket off spreading it across the tree before taking a seat. I closed my eyes as I let the creeping sunrays warm my face. It felt nice and you never know it could add a bit of colour to my pale white skin.

Everything was so quiet around me, which made the noise sound so much clearer. It came suddenly bringing me out of my relaxing dream state in the sun. It was a large cry out for help followed by rustling within the dead undergrowth, which covered the forest floor. The sound had brought fear to me, but at the same time, I couldn't just go on and ignore it. The cry had been from an animal, which was now obviously in distress. It could have got itself caught up in a hunters trap and I could be able to help free it. I had seen all about poachers on the TV and an area like Forks would be a perfect place for them. In Phoenix I would never have dreamed have doing a thing like this, but Forks seemed to bring a braver side to me, so I left the trail and ventured further in to the thicker undergrowth.

The sound of rustling came louder as I approached alerting me that I was heading in the right direction. Up ahead the sun hadn't yet been able to creep through the trees, so the light was dim, but a shape could be made out ahead. It was hard to tell what kind of animal it was but as I got closer, I saw it move. It was then the sun chose to make an appearance illuminating the figure ahead. There was no way to hold back the scream from my body.

Edward was before me bent over what looked to be a dead elk, his mouth to the animals neck and it looked like he was sucking blood from the animal! My scream had alerted Edward to my appearance. I froze in fear as Edward lifted his head, his golden eyes staring right at me. The red blood was shining around his lips as he got to his feet from his crouched position. This was a person I had put so much trust into over the past few weeks and now he had a look on his face as though he wanted to kill me. My body had gone into lockdown as my legs refused to move, my voice refusing to make a sound. It felt like hours as I watched Edward move ever closer to me, the blood still prominent freaking me out even more. He was within touching distance now. He was going to kill me, this vampire stood before me was going to bite me and suck me dry of my blood. I would die, right here, right now in this forest. I closed my eyes so I would not have to witness the event but it never seemed to come.

I must have stood for about a minute, nothing happening before I reopened my eyes with curiosity. The dead elk still lay before me but Edward had gone. I spun around trying to find him, but all trace of him had disappeared. My body came into action again and I found myself running, running as far away from this place as possible. I managed to make my way back to the trail I had been following earlier and didn't hesitate running back to the Cullen's house. I wasn't running there, I was running for transport. The Cullen's had a large stock of cars in their garage and I needed to get away from here as quickly as possible. The Cullen's were a family of vampires and here I was, a human living with them.

I ran into the garage and over to the cupboard where I knew they kept all the keys to the cars. I had never stolen a thing in my life before, but this was for my life. I didn't know what the Cullen's would do to me but I certainly wasn't planning on staying to find out. I grabbed the first set of keys I reached and span around and pressed the button on the key to unlock the door. The lights of Alice's yellow Porsche flashed, which I ran over to and jumped in, turning the engine on before speeding away. I didn't know a lot about vampires, especially as I had always believed them to be mythical creatures, so I didn't have a clue how fast they were. I had no idea how long it would take them to get to me, so I pressed my foot hard down to floor with the gas pedal and didn't dare look at the speedometer as I spent towards to boundaries of Forks.

I didn't really have any idea of where my destination was going to be. I just kept the speed up, changing direction every so often. Soon enough I had left the state of Washington and was heading into Oregon and then Nevada.

By now the tears I had been holding back for so long began to appear. After what had happened with my Father over the past months, I had finally found a family to put my trust upon once again, a family I could love and now I felt betrayed. I was scared, of course I would be scared, I have been living with a family of vampires for the past few weeks without knowing. What if they had decided I was going to be their midnight snack? A new emotion was beginning to show through more though, anger. I was angry at Carlisle and Esme for even deciding to invite me to stay. Now I know they had all argued with each other before my arrival. I was angry with Alice, Jasper and Emmett for welcoming me so graciously into their home, when they could kill me at any moment. I was angry with Rosalie for not making her family see that a human living with them would not work and I was angry with Edward for making me believe that there are nice people in this world. Someone who could care and possibly fall in love with you.

I was most angry with myself. I was the one who had believed this whole façade! Now thinking back why had I not seen it before, it was so obvious there was something different about this family? Their skin was paler than anybody else's and ice cold. In school they kept themselves away from everybody else? Possibly keeping themselves away from all temptation. They never seemed to eat anything either. Sure they would sit there at meal times with plates of food in front of them but thinking about it, I had never actually seen any of them eat a single thing! How had I not seen this before? The Cullen's couldn't possibly be human!

I hadn't been paying attention to what I had been doing apart from the fact that I had to get away. The scenery was all a blur as I sped past. It was strange to think that only a couple of hours ago I had been so desperate to explore and here I was in completely new territory and all I wanted to do was get away from it as fast as possible, without looking back. The further I went the more my heart pulled. It wasn't until now that I realised how much I loved Edward, but he had betrayed me. I would have to get over him though, I had to as a matter of life and death. The tears blurred my vision but I continued to push the car forward. It was only when the Porsche started to lose speed, slowing to an eventual stop when I realised I had run out of gas. I had no money, no phone and here I was in the middle of nowhere.

I climbed out of the car and began my journey on foot. The heat from the desert state was much warmer to what I had been becoming used to in Forks and I soon began to feel my skin begin to burn. I had no water with me and my throat grew dry with thirst, but I couldn't stop I had to keep going, I couldn't let the Cullen's catch up with me. Now that I knew their secret would they have to kill me? I wouldn't tell anybody about what I had seen this morning. Who would believe me anyway? Telling them there was a family of mythical vampires living within human society in Washington state. I would probably be hospitalised for insanity! My feet began to burn as blisters formed on my feet and soon I couldn't carry on. My mind began to spin as I struggled to stay on my feet and that's when it happened. Everything around me went black and I passed out.


	11. Chapter 11 Emergency

_Thanks to phantomessangel, Roosvh, titanterror12, bloftus, Delanie, marlijn, puglover770, twilightluvr001, Twilightfan108, tabby09, kool kat132 and Lecia for the reviews. They always make my day! I am amazed at the responce to the last chapter and am pleased you loved it. I love you all!_

_So what will happen now? I'll let you read on...enjoy!_

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**Edward POV**

I was ashamed.

I had been a vampire for about one hundred years of my life and apart from a rebellious stage when I was a newborn, I had always stuck to Carlisle's way of life as a "vegetarian" vampire. I feasted on the blood of animals rather than humans, just to try and keep some normality within this life as a monster so I could still unite around humans and their ways of life. When a vampire hunts thought, even vegetarian vampires, we give ourselves over to our senses. We let the monster out from within ourselves. The monster I had unveiled to my beautiful Bella today.

I had been drinking from an elk I had killed only a minute before when I smelt it. The most delicious smell in the world. I knew it so well now after living with it for the last few weeks. The smell that burned my throat everyday and caused me to taste my venom on my tongue as my mouth watered. It was the scent of Bella. My hunter instincts had taken over from any human, which remained inside me as I heard her scream in fear. I turned to face her abandoning my previous kill and I found myself wanting to kill this beauty who stood before me.

Her face had been full of fear as she had taken in my appearance. I heard her heart rate increase, her warm delicious blood flowing faster around her body. All I had wanted to do was pierce my teeth into that pale warm neck of hers and drink. Her body was rigid as I had taken a step closer. Her breathing increased as I planned in my mind how to make the kill. Do I break her neck first and then drink her dry or do I listen to the scream and fight with the struggles and make it all a bit more exciting.

Then moment had come where I was so close I could feel her breath against my skin, her body trembling slightly. The moment when I would finally get to taste this delicious flavour. Bella had closed her eyes, maybe she didn't want to see me as I drank her dry, but whatever the reason I believed I would never find out. Bella was going to be all mine now and I was going to remember the moment forever.

A tear had begun to fall down Bella's cheek. This tear would be the saviour of Bella's life. Hadn't Bella been through enough, her Mother had died in a car crash and she had had to run away from an abusive Father and then here was me, a friend who wanted to kill her! This sweet innocent girl did not deserve any of this. The girl I had fallen in love with did not deserve me!

I fought with the monster within and made myself run. I pushed my legs silently forward as my mind pushed my body as far away as possible from this beauty as possible. I ran, the trees a blur as the image of Bella's terrified figure scarred my mind. How could I have even thought to ruin everything Carlisle had worked for over his life. What we had all worked for.

I felt ashamed. As a family we had always believed Jasper would be the weak one. The vampire we would have to keep a close eye on around humans, the one only Alice truly trusted. How we had been so wrong though. I should be the one they should no longer trust, the one to be kept away from all human beings. The one the whole family should be afraid of. I could see Carlisle and Esme's faces now. They would be truly ashamed of me. I would have to phone them and tell them what I had done. Where would Bella be now? Would she tell others about what she had seen? I really didn't know what to do now and Carlisle was the only person I knew who would know what to do now.

I slowed my run to a stop and took in my surroundings. I had only been running for a matter of minutes but I had already crossed the Canadian border. The rest of my family had also chosen to hunt this morning but I had been the only one to stay close to home, while everyone else had chosen to tackle a grizzly bear problem up in the mountains. I just hoped Carlisle would answer his phone. I pulled out my cell and dialled his number, Carlisle answered after the first ring.

"Carlisle we have a problem" I said. I continued telling Carlisle everything that had happened. Carlisle stayed silent the whole time while I explained myself. Even then he only spoke a few words before hanging up.

"Get back to the house now, I'll meet you there."

I didn't hesitate and began running as fast as I could. I didn't know how long it would take for the rest of my family to get home, but we had to act fast. This was my own stupid mistake and now I had dragged my whole family into it with me and god only knows what was going to happen now.

By the time I arrived back at home the rest of my family were already back. They all sat around the kitchen as I arrived. I paced back and forth in front of the windows as I retold what had happened to my whole family.

"She should never have been allowed to come here, I have said that all along!" Rosalie shouted as I came to the end of my tale. "Now we are all going to be exposed and just think of what trouble that could cause."

We all knew what she meant from that. If people began to find out about our world, the Volturi would be sure to act and that would only spell trouble.

"Rosalie, now is not the time for your comments, we have got to come up with a plan here." Carlisle spoke. His voice sounded official and we all knew we should do as he instructed. He was going to be the only man capable of getting us out of this mess I had got my family into.

"We need to find Bella as soon as possible. We need to try and explain to her how we are different. Make her understand, but she won't want to live with us anymore, but if we could ask her to keep the secret." Carlisle continued. "Edward take me to where you were hunting, lets see if we can track her."

We didn't hesitate at all, with Carlisle, Emmett and I leaving the house immediately. When we arrived at the scene the Elk lay there dead where I had abandoned it. Bella's scent was slowly fading, but it was still traceable, but we soon discovered that it only lead back to the house.

"We are going to have to take to the roads, see if we can find her that way. Jasper and Emmett you take the Jeep and drive through the forest, see if you can find any trails to follow. Esme and Rosalie, you go into Forks and search all the roads and then head out to the La Push boundary. Edward and Alice, your with me."

We all set to action following Carlisle's commands and heading out into the garage.

"Where's my car?" Alice screamed as we entered. We all stood and stared at the empty space in between my Volvo and Emmett's Jeep stood, where the bright yellow Porsche usually was.

"Bella must have taken it." I whispered in despair, but I knew all my family would have heard me. "That had just made the search ten times harder."

xxx

We had been out searching for what must have been hours. It had felt like days, but when your only thought is find Bella, time seems to pass so much slower. The tick of a second hand on a clock a torment. Each tick was an ache in my heart, for it was an extra second I had been torn away from Bella for because of the monster I was.

I heard a gasp from behind me, causing Carlisle to slam on the brakes of the Mercedes. Alice was having a vision. I listened into her thoughts, seeing the same picture she would be seeing now. Bella all alone in the middle of nowhere, lying on the ground. The sun above was baking down from above onto Bella's skin burning her skin while Bella just continued to lie there. Why wasn't she moving? Was she already dead and when we eventually found here we would be too late?

Carlisle who had been sat watching Alice and I's reactions broke my thoughts.

"What is it? What have you seen Alice? Is it Bella? Is she alright?"

All these questions overwhelmed my mind as I just continued to stare at Alice in shock after what I had just seen, the despair eating away at my insides.

"It's Bella, she is just lying there in the sun, she looks… dead." Alice said, he voice breaking with emotion.

I heard myself moan at Alice's last word. So I wasn't the only one who thought that Bella looked dead? This couldn't be happening!

Carlisle didn't wait to hear anymore of Alice's vision before starting the car again. He drove with more determination now that I had ever seen him with before. His foot never once hesitating from the gas pedal, the speedometer never dropping below one hundred and fifty miles an hour. The passing scenery a blur, even for my vampire eyes. Alice and I didn't dare ask Carlisle where he was going, but as we passed from state to state, we noticed the sun getting considerably brighter. Before we knew it the greenery had changed into browns as we headed into the desert states.

It was then when we saw it. It was like an oasis within this dessert. The pool of water you would travel miles two when you were dieing of thirst. It was Alice's yellow Porsche.

It wasn't Bella, but it was hope. This yellow car was a sign that we were finally getting closer to my Bella. Carlisle parked the Mercedes besides the Porsche and the three of us were quickly out of the car, our vampire senses on full alert. The sun hit my skin, creating diamonds, one of the many signs of being a vampire.

Bella's scent had always been so prominent to me, so identifiable against everything else. Even though it burnt my throat it was like the finest brandy to an alcoholic. It was as though Bella was my brand of heroin. We started on foot, keeping pace with each other as we set off at a run leaving the cars behind. As we ran Carlisle and Alice's thoughts were full of the what ifs. The main question being what if we don't get to Bella in time. I tried to force their thoughts from my head, wishing for once my mind could just be silent. That was when I smelt it.

I came to a sudden halt. Carlisle and Alice must have run another hundred meters before they realised I had stopped and were soon both back at my side.

"Can you smell that?" I asked.

I watched as Carlisle and Alice concentrated before they both turned to look at me. The shock prominent in their expressions, the thoughts of hope running through their minds.

"It's very faint but that is definitely Bella." I continued. "We must be getting closer."

We all stood concentrating on the scent. Trying to trace the direction before the three of us concluded on a direction setting off at speed again. This new lead seemed to have given me a new sense of life, excuse the pun. My body pushed me faster forward and I had soon created quite a lead between myself and my sister and father.

That was when I saw her. She was just lying there not moving on the burning ground, the sun baking down upon her. I had soon made it to her side and dropped to my knees beside her. I grabbed her wrist checking for a pulse straight away. By now Carlisle and Alice had reached us and also dropped down beside us.

"She's alive" I said with rejoice full in my voice. "Her pulse is very weak though, we need to act fast."

Carlisle set to work instantly checking Bella over.

"We need to get her out of this heat now, or we will lose her."

I didn't need telling twice. I scooped Bella up into my arms and starting running. We needed to get back to the cars now.


	12. Chapter 12 My Confession

_Thanks to titanterror12, xxkissesandcuddlesxx, phantomessangel, bloftus, Delanie, tabby09 and Lecia for the reviews. Reviews always rock! _

_So what will happen to Bella now? I hope you enjoy :) Not long now till Eclipse is in our cinemas! Yay!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

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**Bella POV**

My mind felt like it had been stuffed with pillows. It was so light and I felt like I was floating. It really felt like I didn't have a body connected to my mind. A weird sensation began to happen. I began to feel parts of my body again. My eyelids I could feel flickering, my fingers stretching out flexing and finally my toes wiggling. I finally began to feel myself again, as though I belonged somewhere and I wasn't just floating around in space somewhere. I found the strength to open my eyes. As my eyes focused, I began to take in features of the room. I was in my room back at the Cullen's house, dressed in my favourite pyjamas. All my belongings were in their usual places. I felt a pricking in my hand and looked to see I was connected to an IV. What had happened, which I couldn't remember? I pushed back into my memory, feeling the heat of the sun above me once more, the dryness of the air making it hard to breathe and that was when the fear hit me once again. I had been running away from the Cullen's because they were vampires and here I was back inside their house.

I struggled with my quilt trying to pull it back off myself, but I just seemed to get more tied up within it. My heartbeat was increasing as I felt it begin to thump against my chest, sweat forming across my forehead. I needed to get out of here before the Cullen's found out I was awake. All this was really beginning to make me feel like I should have just stayed at home back in Phoenix with my abusive Father.

"Bella, please calm down before you do yourself an injury."

His voice came as a shock to me, bringing me to a sudden stop with my fight with the bedding. I lifted my gaze to meet the golden eyes of Edward. Too late for escaping I had been caught. There would be no chance of me escaping now. I suppose I just had to accept the fact that I would probably die right her in this very bed. All so the Cullen's could keep their precious secret that they were in fact monsters!

"Stay away from me" I said hoping my voice would not betray me, by staying strong but of course I found myself stuttering.

"Please Bella listen to me." His voice and eyes were pleading. He looked truly hurt by my panic, but this was probably all an act. An ability of his as a vampire.

"Listen to you after all the lies you have made me believe! I don't think so!" I screamed.

"Please Bella, allow me to explain myself. At least let me do that before you decide anything." Edward pleaded.

"What and spend even more time in the same room as a vampire?" I screamed.

"Bella you have managed it for the past few weeks. A few more minutes isn't going to hurt is it?" Edward asked.

"Well that depends if you choose to take a bite or not." I shouted. I knew I had hit a nerve from my comment. Edward's eyes dropped to the floor and there was true sadness in his face. Edward had been so kind to me over the past few weeks and vampire or not he didn't deserve that comment from me.

"Is everything okay?" Carlisle's voice came from the doorway. Behind him was Jasper. A sense of calm spread around my body as though my savours had arrived to save me from this monster, but how could that be, they were both vampires too.

"Jasper please stop that. Bella needs to make her own decision here and she doesn't need any of our influences." Edward said calmly.

I was confused by Edward's comment but I began to feel my body tense up as my fears pushed themselves forward again.

"Bella please just allow us to explain ourselves and then you can make your own decision on what you wish to do and we won't stop you." Carlisle asked calmly.

I couldn't exactly escape anymore, being in the same room as three vampires who were faster than me so all I could do was nod, to allow Carlisle to continue.

"Bella we are what we like to call vegetarian vampires. None of us agree with what we have become so have chosen to take a different kind of lifestyle to most others of our kind. We choose to feast of the blood of animals rather than humans."

I was confused by Carlisle's statement, but I knew he was right. Hadn't I caught Edward draining the blood from an Elk rather than a human?

"We do this so we are able to be around human society, to try and live an as normal existence as possible, without being suspected." Carlisle continued.

"Why did you decide to let me stay then? If you wanted to keep this secret why did you let a human stay so close within your lives where secrets would more than likely come out?" I asked.

"Bella when I saw you in that hospital and you told me your history, I couldn't just send you away from this hospital for you to probably end up living on the streets of Seattle. You had been through enough already. It caused arguments between the family, but you were brought home."

I watched as Edward dropped his head in shame at the mention of the arguments. I could remember how he had been annoyed by Carlisle's decision along with his brothers and sisters when I had been brought to the Cullen's house for the first time.

"Bella none of us would ever dream of hurting you. You are like a part of our family now" Edward added.

"Will you leave me alone for a bit so I can think about this for some time before I make my decision?" I asked.

"Of course Bella" Carlisle replied turning to the door again. "We will be downstairs if you need us."

Carlisle and Jasper left the room first before Edward. As Edward reached the door he turned back to look at me. From his expression it really looked like he wanted to tell me something, but just couldn't bring himself to say the words. He shook his head to himself and followed his Father and brother from the room.

The room was silent once more and I hated it. I had asked Carlisle, Jasper and Edward to leave the room but how could I think when I already knew the answer. It had been staring me in the face for so long and only now I had realised what was happening. I was falling madly in love with Edward. Vampire or not, there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. My heart was calling out for his presence, just to have him in the same room as me. There was no denying it, I couldn't leave this house or Forks, when my heart now belonged here. Even if Edward didn't love me, I knew deep down there would never be anyone who would be allowed my heart except for Edward. It was his now and there was no way of stopping the feelings floating around my body. I needed to talk to him alone.

I was completely new to this vampire thing but they were predators so I guessed they would have good hearing. I didn't know how strong my body was at the moment so didn't want to push my voice and shout. I kept my voice at my normal level and called his name. Within five seconds there was a knock at the door.

"You may come in Edward."

The door opened slowly and I came face to face with Edward once more. His face was confused. He obviously wondered why he had been called here alone without any of his family.

"Will you please come and sit with me so we can talk?" I asked.

Edward nodded his head and perched himself on the edge of my bed.

"Edward I must be insane, but before I make my final decision I must talk to you." I said my voice no more than a whisper.

I looked up into Edward's eyes the expression still confused, but the golden warm colour seemed to give me the confidence I needed.

"I need to let you know how I feel about you. I need to know how you feel about me and if we don't feel the same about each other then I won't be able to stay."

Edward opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off before he had chance.

"Edward I love you. I need you to know that. I don't care what you are. To me you are Edward Cullen the man I have fallen deeply in love with."

Edward reached across the bed and took my hands within his cold hands. He kept his gaze upon our entwined hands, before looking back into my eyes.

"Bella your scent burns the back of my throat more than any other humans. Your face is in my mind whenever I close my eyes. Over my one hundred years of living I have watched as Carlisle met Esme, as Rosalie met Emmett and heard the story of how Alice and Jasper met. Over all these years I have always believed that there was nobody out there for me to love, until I met you. Bella you have turned my life upside down and I don't think I could now continue in a world without you."

I was shocked by Edward's words. Had I just heard right? Had Edward basically just said he loved me to?

"Edward I don't understand" I stuttered.

Edward let go of my hands and moved his hands up to my face. He put his hands on my cheeks and pulled my face closer his. My cheeks were warm with my blush despite having Edward's cold hands on them as I stared deep into Edward's eyes. Our faces were so close I could feel his sweet breathe hit the back of my nose as I inhaled deeply.

"Bella Swan I love you." Edward said slowly before pulling our faces closer, our lips finally touching.


	13. Chapter 13 Now You Know

_Thanks to phantomessangel, bloftus, titanterror12, stupidlamb2010, Vampire-Girl1992, Delanie, puglover770 and yesisalas for the reviews. I always love to hear what you all think of my work. Reviews rock!_

_I went to see Eclipse yesterday at an advanced screening here in the UK and completely loved it! Definately the best one yet and will definately be going to see it again as soon as possible! As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

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**Bella POV**

It had been a week since I had been brought back to the Cullen's house and Edward and I had finally confessed our attractions to each other. Carlisle stood at the side of my bed while he checked my heart rate and blood pressure. Edward sat on the other side of my bed holding my hand. Ever since I had called Edward back into the room all those days ago, Edward had barely left my side. It was only as I had slowly watched his eyes changed from their usual golden colour to black, a sign I have since found out to mean he is hungry, when I forced him to go hunting with his brothers. Alice had then taken his place at the side of my bed to keep me company.

"Well I think Bella you are getting a lot better" Carlisle said as he took his eyes away from a monitor. "Your levels are all back to normal and I am happy now that you are hydrated again. That heat really did take a lot out of you."

"Does that mean I can finally leave this bed?" I asked eagerly.

"Yes but I don't want you to push it. You are still weak, so I don't want you over exerting yourself, so stick to the house for another few days." Carlisle replied.

I pulled a face at Carlisle and Edward, earning a laugh back from them both but inside I was happy. I was finally able to leave this room and see some new scenery whether it be other rooms of the house. Edward and Carlisle left my room allowing me to change from my pyjamas, but I knew that Edward wouldn't be far away if I needed him. I didn't bother to dress well, knowing I would just be hanging around the house all day, choosing my favourite pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Once I changed I opened the bedroom door and wasn't surprised to find Edward stood waiting for me.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

He took my hand and we made our way to the staircase. Edward held me tightly as we descended the stairs. I was so flattered by his efforts and concern, but I had been brought up as an independent person and now to have all this attention just felt strange.

Downstairs the Cullen's were sat around carrying out various activities. Carlisle and Esme looked to be cooking in the kitchen. Cooking food that I knew would only be for me as I had since learnt that the Cullen's don't eat any kind of food except for blood. Jasper and Emmett looked to be in epic battle on their computer games. Alice was layout across the floor textbooks open in front her. It looked like she was doing some homework for school. It made me wonder how much work I had missed out on while I had been of school. I decided to push this mind to the back of my mind. I was pretty sure I would have lots of catching up to do. Rosalie was flicking though a fashion magazine on one of the sofas. I wondered why she would need to be so worried about fashion as I am sure with her looks Rosalie would make anything look as though it was straight off a catwalk. Edward settled me down onto the other sofa, finding a throw to wrap around me. I wanted to tell Edward that he didn't need to fuss so much but I really didn't want to hurt his feelings. He had done so much for me while I had been bound to my bed.

"So how's Bella now?" Emmett asked never taking his eyes away from the game in front of him.

"I'm fine thanks Emmett," I replied. "I am just happy to be able to leave my room now."

It was strange to watch Emmett and Jasper as they played. Their fingers moved so fast across the keys of the game controllers. It hit me how hard it must have been for the Cullen's when I had been oblivious to what they were, for them to act so… human. But now it was as though they had been released and were finally able to be who they really were. I turned to look at Edward and his eyes were full of worry. I really don't know what my expression was but he had obviously just been watching me watch Emmett and Jasper. I squeezed his cold hand and smiled at him, trying to offer reassurance to him. I just really hoped he would believe me.

"So when are we going on a shopping trip?" Alice asked in her usual excitable way. Luckily Carlisle entered the room with a plate of food before I needed to answer.

"Now Alice, Bella needs to rest. She certainly won't be ready for one of your shopping trips just yet." Alice seemed upset but soon a smile spread across her face.

"I'll go alone then and buy you some clothes by myself. Then I can buy you exactly what I want you to wear and you will have to as they will be a present and I will be offended if you don't."

I heard a snigger escape from Jasper and Emmett's lips as a groan left my own.

"How can somebody so small be so annoying?" Edward asked from besides me squeezing my hand in comfort.

"It must be another special talent of mine." Alice replied.

I suddenly remembered something Edward had said a few days ago about how members of his family had certain talents. I had been so drained at the time that I hadn't really been able to pay much attention to what he had been saying but now I was interested. I really wanted to know more about the Cullen's.

"What is it about these talents of yours?" I asked directing the question around the room to everyone. "Edward mentioned it the other day but I wasn't really in any condition to understand what he was saying."

"When somebody is changed into a vampire they can also sometimes bring a talent into their new life with them." Carlisle started. The rest of the Cullen's relaxed as they had obviously heard this story many times before. I continued to listen intently.

"Sometimes these can be very useful within life and inside this very room we have three very special talents. Jasper has the ability to manipulate emotions. He can change the any emotion of anybody to whatever he wants."

Realisation hit me as Carlisle continued his story. I had felt Jasper's power on a number of occasions and just hadn't realised it. There had been many a time since I had arrived in Forks when I had felt sad or angry and suddenly I had felt happy and calm again. This must have all been to do with Jasper's calming techniques. Only last week had I not seen Edward stop Jasper from doing something, at the time feeling myself becoming calm when I was angry and upset about the Cullen's being vampires. I shook myself out of my thoughts and continued to listen to Carlisle.

"Alice has a very useful talent indeed. She can see visions from the future, which was how we found you when you ran away. I don't know how we would have done it if Alice hadn't seen you lying out in the dessert under the sun."

I stared at Alice in amazement. Never would I have ever thought that this sweet pixie girl would have such an amazing talent. Alice grinned a wide smile at me causing me to laugh. I soon stopped myself and turned my attention back to Carlisle as there was still one talent to hear about.

"Our final talent within the family is hearing the thoughts of others around us. This has proved useful on millions of occasions in our past and I really don't know what we would do without it." Carlisle finished.

"Who has this talent?" I asked, trying to guess in my mind., concluding it would probably be Carlisle.

"Edward" Carlisle replied.

I turned in shock to look at the love of my life, who stared back at me a worried look on his face.

"Please don't think of me any different" Edward whispered.

"You can hear all my thoughts?" I asked, embarrassed more that anything. He would have heard every single one of my thoughts about him.

"No" Edward replied simply. "You are definitely somebody different. Everybody who I have ever come across, I have always been able to hear their thoughts whether I have wanted to or not, but you Bella everything is silent."

"Is there something wrong with me?" I asked.

"Of course not!" Carlisle added quickly.

"Between us we have tried to come up with a number of theories as to why I can't hear your thoughts. We always believed it would be useful when you first arrived so we would know when we would do anything suspicious to reveal ourselves, but of course this plan fell through. You would not believe how much it had frustrated me but we can not come up with a single explanation." Edward replied.

"I'm glad you can't hear my thoughts." I said snuggling myself into Edward's side as he wrapped his arm around me. "I would prefer to tell you how much I love you rather than you hear them for yourself in my thoughts. I love you Edward."

"Bella I love you too." Edward replied.

"Ew! Can you keep it down? I think I'm going to throw up!" Emmett joked.

I pulled my tongue out at him and then laughed as I watched Alice hit him with one of her text books.


	14. Chapter 14 May Angels Lead You In

_Thanks to phantomessangel, Delanie, bloftus, titanterror12, puglover770, SesshomarusPegasus, CullenxVamp and Lecia for the reviews. They always make my day._

_I must appologise to you all for how it has taken my so long to update this time. My computer decided to crash and they only way it would work was by reinstalling Windows. Of course this took a few days and by the time it was all sorted all my documents had been deleted off this computer including this story and the next chapter I was halfway through writing. I was not happy at all. But now that my computer is all sorted I have been able to rewrite that chapter so let me know what you think and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long!_

_Disclaimer: The Twilight saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me!_

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**Bella POV**

It had been one long week I had faced housebound. Once Carlisle had given me the all clear to leave my bed he had then insisted that Edward should join all his brothers and sisters back at school, so as not to raise suspicion. I hadn't minded at first looking forward to time to rest, but soon after the first day of being alone I was bored. The Cullen's house was vast and there was always plenty to do with various TV's, games consoles, computers and books around the house, but soon enough even these I didn't hold any interest for. Edward and his family would return would return once school had finished and I would be fine again but then it would all start again the next day. When the weekend had arrived I had finally known I would have two days with plenty of company.

"Bella what would you say to returning to school tomorrow?" Carlisle asked on the Sunday evening.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"I know you are probably dreading it but you will have to return at some point." Carlisle replied in his fatherly tone.

"I can't wait" I replied shocking Carlisle.

On the Monday morning one we were all ready Esme gave us all a hug before we all left out into the garage. Alice, Jasper, Edward and I climbed into Edward's Volvo and started our journey to school.

It felt strange to be leaving the confides of the house for the first time in weeks and even stranger when I remembered that the last time I was conscious away from home was in the middle of a desert. I felt a shudder pass through my body at the thought and Alice who was sat beside me looked at me with curiosity.

"What have I been missing in my classes?" I asked to stop Alice from saying something. It seemed to work as they all started to tell me what had been happening in all our classes.

By the end of my second-class school was beginning to feel like I had never been away. At the end of my Government class I was definitely ready for some lunch. As I left the room with Emmett and Jasper, Edward and Alice were already waiting for us. Rosalie would probably we meeting us in the dining hall.

As we walked in a familiar face bobbed up in front of me stopping me in my tracks.

"Hi Bella, how are you now? I haven't seen you in ages." Mike Newton asked.

I heard Edward's teeth snap shut in annoyance beside me, but Mike continued on as through Edward didn't exist.

"I'm fine Mike now, thanks" I replied trying to keep the conversation short for all our sakes.

"Well maybe now that you are better we should go out sometime this week. Get to know each other better."

I could feel the tension flowing around Edward's body as he stood beside me. If I didn't do something soon, I didn't know if Edward would be able to continue to control himself.

"Edward why don't you go and get us both some food" I suggested. "I'll meet you over at the table in a minute."

It was clear Edward didn't want to leave my side but he did as I asked and walked over to join the rest of his family.

"That's a really nice thought Mike" I said turning my attention back to Mike. "I really appreciate the thought but not yet. I am only just out of bed rest and I really don't want to push things and do too much too soon."

Mike looked hurt but nodded his head in acceptance. "Well I guess I will see you in gym then." He replied before wandering back over to his own table. I felt guilty as I walked over to where all the Cullen's were now sat but it was obvious that Mike wanted much more than friendship and he needed to get the message soon.

As I sat down beside Edward I was met by his dazzling smile making me feel a hundred times better about the situation as he pushed a tray of food in front of me.

"You seem to have found yourself an admirer" Emmett joked as I took a bite of pizza.

"Shut up Emmett" I replied through gritted teeth "Or I will make you eat this food instead of me."

Once Edward and I had calmed down after our encounter with Mike the rest of lunch was enjoyable. Rosalie and Alice were in a heated discussion with each other about what other girls were wearing around the room. I caught Alice's eyes scrutinising my basic jeans and shirt combination a couple of times but chose to ignore it. Emmett chose to take my threat literally and with Jasper spent the rest of lunch daring each other to eat various foods. They dared Edward a couple of times too but he point blank refused.

"What is it like for you to eat food?" I asked Edward as I watched Emmett for a stick of celery down his throat.

"I suppose it would be like you eating dirt" Edward replied. "But it isn't the taste which is the worst thing, our bodies can't handle human foods anymore so we would never digest it, so later Emmett and Jasper are going to have to bring all this back up."

As the bell rang Edward and I left the Cullen's heading towards our Biology class. The corridors were full of students and full of noise. Even with all the shouting and talking around me, I could still hear a conversation going on between two girls I recognised from my Spanish class.

"It is just wrong" the shorter one of the two I believed to be called Jessica said.

"I have always thought that ever since they have arrived" the one I knew to be called Lauren replied.

"Isn't it called incest though?" Jessica asked.

"I suppose they think they can get away with it because they are all adopted and aren't related by blood." Lauren said.

"Well I always believed Edward to be the only decent one but I guess not anymore. Isn't that Bella his cousin or something?" Jessica asked.

"Yes something like that. It is all just sick so the sooner you get over you infatuation about him the better." Lauren replied.

I had heard enough and really didn't want to have to hear anymore of their conversation. I really began to feel sorry for Edward who must hear comments like these everyday through people's thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked. I turned my attention to him. His face was full of concern.

"Does everybody think like this?" I asked indicating to the conversation he will have also heard.

"Bella I wouldn't worry too much about the thoughts of Jessica and Lauren, they are never nice." Edward replied. I knew he was trying to spare my feelings but I needed to know the truth.

"Edward does everybody think the same way?"

"Everyone is just interested in us. As a family we have always kept ourselves private as far as the rest of the town are concerned. Doctor Cullen works in the hospital while his wife is an interior designer and all their adopted children all date each other and attend Forks High School." Edward replied squeezing my hand. "They are just wanting to know more about this mystery family."

I smiled back at Edward feeling a little better. He was right like he always was and I shouldn't let other people affect my life.

"Are you sure you want to go to Biology?" Edward asked.

I knew I really shouldn't ditch any classes especially on my first day back, but I could no longer seem to face classes any longer today.

"Well I was thinking that maybe I could show you a place which is very special to me" Edward continued.

I agreed and soon found myself back in Edward's Volvo leaving the school grounds. We drove for miles, the road becoming narrower, the trees denser around us until Edward pulled up at the side of the road.

"We will have to go the rest of the way by foot." Edward said. I was intrigued by where Edward wanted to take me and followed his example as he climbed out of the car.

The atmosphere was much denser now we were within the trees and you could feel the water within the air as it touched my skin.

"Would you mind if I showed you my preferred mode of transport?" Edward asked, the excitement clear within his eyes. I didn't have a clue what he meant by this but I didn't want to disappoint him by saying no.

Before I knew what was happening he was helping me onto his back and we were off. It was bizarre to think that Edward was actually running, he was so fast! As I held on tightly and tucked my head in well between his shoulder blades I watched as the trees whizzed past. Edward himself seemed to be completely at ease, his breathing never seemed to change. This was amazing, if not a little scary.

After what seemed about five minutes Edward began to slow and eventually stopped. I climbed down from his back with his help and took his hand within mine.

"Before I show you this place, I need you to understand vampires are a little different in the sunlight." Edward said.

"You don't burn?" I asked.

"No no, that is all myth. We are different though and I need you to understand this before you see me and become alarmed."

I nodded my head to tell Edward and he began to lead me forward. The trees were thinning ahead of us and soon enough I could see the sunlight growing stronger as the canopy above thinned.

As we stepped out into the clearing the beauty overwhelmed me. Edward had brought me to what appeared to be a meadow in the middle of the forest. It was full of wild flowers filling it with colour and a running stream could be heard nearby.

The beauty of the meadow had caused me to forget what Edward had told me. As I turned to look at him I gasped with amazement. Wherever the sun touched him, his skin reflected like a million diamonds. I had never seen anything like it before.

"Please don't be alarmed" Edward said as he began to take a step back within the cover of the canopy.

I grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Edward I am not alarmed. You are beautiful."

We lay beside each other for what felt like hours in the meadow as we talked. Each talking more about our pasts. It was really beginning to be one of the best days of my life until Edward's phone began to ring.

"Don't tell me Alice you aren't capable of finding your own way home from school?" Edward joked as he answered the phone.

Edward's voice became more serious as the voice continued and I sat up with curiosity. By the time Edward hang up, telling his sister we would be straight home, I couldn't take the suspense any longer.

"What's wrong?" I asked. His response was certainly one I didn't expect.

"Alice was just asking me why your future has just disappeared."


	15. Chapter 15 Fear

_Thanks to stupidlamb2010, titanterror12, bloftus, phantomessangel, puglover770, lashawnnov, Lecia and twilightluvr001 for the reviews. I really appreciate all the comments you give me._

_So I guess you could say the excitement starts from here and I loved your theories of what was going to happen after you had read the last chapter. Enjoy!_

Discalimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga

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**Bella POV**

My mind was buzzing with questions as Edward picked me up quickly and began running back through the trees. As soon as Edward had told me my future had disappeared, we had been off. I could only presume we were heading back to the Volvo to go back home but I couldn't be sure.

As Edward ran he appeared to be so focused, his body ridged with anxiety. Definitely not as relaxed as our journey to the meadow which now seemed such a long time ago. As we arrived back at the Volvo, Edward helped me into my seat before getting into the drivers seat. We were on the road within seconds, the only noise being that of the car engine as Edward continued to push it forward faster.

Edward seemed so determined as he drove and for the first time ever I was scared to be within his company. Whatever Alice had told him really seemed to have affected him. The questions were really beginning to burn my mind as the silence continued and I needed some answers.

"Edward what does this mean? Am I going to die?" I asked, tears finally beginning to prick my eyes.

"I really don't know Bella, Alice has never had that happen before." Edward replied, his voice grave and sad.

"But you have told me before the visions Alice sees are not set, we can change our own futures" I replied desperately.

"Bella you just don't understand." Edward said raising his voice for the first time since I had known him.

The tears I had been trying so hard to hide now began to flow steadily down my cheek. I tried to rub them away quickly before Edward would see but I was too late. I watched as Edward pulled the Volvo up to the side of the road, before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have shouted" Edward whispered as my tears stained his shirt.

"What does it all mean?" I asked, my voice beginning to crack with my crying.

"I really don't know Bella. We have never had anything like this happen before. I just hope that Carlisle will have some answers." Edward replied.

By the time we made it back to the house all of the family were already there. As we walked in Esme, Rosalie and Emmett greeted us, Esme pulling me into one of the tightest hugs I had ever received in my life. They led us through to the room with the piano, where Alice, Carlisle and Jasper were in deep conversation. Alice and Jasper were sat together on one of the sofas while Carlisle paced back and forth infront of the window, looking out across the river and to the mountains beyond. As we entered they all turned their attention to me.

Edward sat me down on the other sofa before taking a seat beside me, Esme taking the seat on my other side.

"Alice what happened? What exactly did you see?" Edward asked.

"I was in my history class bored to my skull, there are only so many times you can hear a teacher telling you about the American history you have already lived yourself."

"Alice!" I shouted interrupting her. "We really don't need all the details."

"Fine" Alice said clearly offended. I would have to remember to apologise to her later.

"Well I was bored." Alice continued, "So I decided to try and see into everybody's future. I could see that Jasper decides to go and visit Peter soon and Rose and Emmett would choose to go on another honeymoon soon. Then I saw you two skipping classes this afternoon.

I fidgeted nervously at what Carlisle and Esme would think about the discovery of me and Edward missing classes but they didn't seem to care.

"I then decided to look more into your futures out of curiosity, when it just disappeared. I tried just checking Edward and I had no problems. No matter what happened you were nowhere Bella."

By now Edward was squeezing my hand so tightly that it hurt, but I couldn't say anything, I was in so much shock. What did all of this mean?

"Could this mean that one of us slip?" Jasper asked. We all knew that Jasper was the weakest of the family when it came to the vegetarian lifestyle they all chose to live. I couldn't even start to imagine what it must be like for him or any of them for that matter to have my scent under their noses all day everyday.

"Am I going to die?" I asked. I watched as Alice's gaze dropped to the floor. She couldn't even bare to look me in the eyes anymore. This tension was sure going to kill me soon if nobody gave me any answers.

"Bella, we really don't know," Carlisle said speaking for the first time since we had arrived home. "If you had died wouldn't Alice see that in your future or in ours?"

Nobody seemed to question Carlisle's thoughts as we all looked at each other puzzled.

"It's not something to do with the Volturi then?" Edward asked me from beside me after a couple of minutes of painful silence. Who or what were the Volturi? I had never heard of it before in my life.

"What would they have to do with this?" Rose asked.

"With all the powers they have, they probably already know about Bella," Edward began. "We are breaking the rules here. They know about Alice's talent, so what about if they know of a way to stay out of her sight?"

"That just isn't their style, they wouldn't do that" Carlisle argued.

I really couldn't take any of this anymore. I didn't have a clue what they were talking about but it was about me.

"Who or what are the Volturi?" I asked.

"They are what you would call vampire royalty. They also set our rules to stay undetected and also police them" Edward answered.

"So how could they be involved in all this?" I asked, happy that I was finally starting to get some answers.

"Our whole family are breaking the rules" Rosalie pointed out quickly.

"The Volturi work very hard to keep our secret from humans and here we are taking in a human to stay with us who then discovers the secret. We have done exactly what the Volturi didn't want to happen" Carlisle said.

"So what would they do?" I asked, the fear obvious within my voice.

"I really wouldn't worry Bella, I'm pretty sure this isn't the Volturi's doing. It isn't their style" Carlisle said.

"But what would happen if they did find out about me?" I asked again. It was obvious Carlisle was trying to dodge the answer.

"Carlisle don't!" Edward shouted causing me to jump.

"Edward she need to know, she needs to understand." Carlisle answered.

It was obvious from Edward's body language that he was angry but Carlisle continued.

"They would make sure you didn't spread the secret. They would change you into one of us."

I felt Esme's arm wrap around my waist as she tried to comfort me. This was all too much to take in. As the rest of the family continued to talk, I felt the exhaustion of today taking over my body and soon everybody's voices sounded to be miles away. My eyes grew heavy and soon my eyes were closing.

I felt a cool pair of arms pick me up and carry me and soon I was lay on something extremely comfortable. The last thing I felt before I dropped into a deep unconsciousness was a cool pair of lips pressed to my forehead.

My dreams were full of dark figures with bright red eyes.


End file.
